The Caged Rat
by Orangellama
Summary: Yuki wakes up one morning to find Tohru - in his bedroom! A Yuki - Tohru Fic. (Don't worry - Kyo will be set up with someone else!)
1. A Rude Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Baskets or any of it's characters.

Chapter One – A Rude Awakening

Yuki lifted his eyelids slowly. Sunlight was flooding the room through his shear curtains and falling next to him onto the starched white sheets. Why was there so much sunlight? Had he forgotten to close his shade before he went to bed last night?

He slowly eased himself up into a sitting position and gazed around the room, blinking a few times to remove the sleep from his eyes. 'What time is it?' he wondered.

Glancing at the clock and seeing he had a half hour to get ready for school he slid himself onto the floor and, feeling rather shaky, ambled over to the dresser. "Cloths" he muttered. "Where are my cloths? Didn't I put them here?"

Failing to find anything clean in the drawers or on the counter he turned to gaze around the room, trying to clear his hazy mind. The objects flew by as his sluggish brain slowly identified each one. 'Book ... blanket ... pillow ... pen ... sock ... watch ... magazine ... Honda-san ... pants... tie... wait – _Honda-san_???'

He wrenched his head back toward where he had seen her sleeping form and sure enough Tohru lay propped up on one side of his bed, breathing deeply her eyes closed. "Honda-san?" he whispered, staggering over to her sleeping form. 'What happened!?!?' a voice inside his head seemed to scream. 'Why is she in here? I couldn't have...it's impossible...I didn't _sleep_-!'

Tohru suddenly stirred silencing all of Yuki's thoughts and halting his movement.

She yawned, stretched, and glanced up to find Yuki staring at her as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Oh. Yuki-kun! You're up! Are you feeling better?" She asked.

Yuki took a step back, a strange kind of fear flooding his body. 'Wait a minuet,' he thought, 'She has all her cloths on. And so,' he glanced down at his pajama clad form 'so do I.' He looked back up at Tohru who was looking at him expectantly, waiting for his answer.

"Wh-what do you mean, Honda-san?" He asked, forcing a slightly nervous smile.

"You weren't feeling well last night, Yuki-kun." She replied. "You had a terrible fever. You may not remember."

Yuki though hard... last night... yes, he did remember feeling a bit ill at dinner. He had gone up to his room ... but after that... nothing. "Honda-san. What happened?"

"You were going up to your room when we heard a crash. You had fallen in your doorway. Shigure-san put you in you bed and called Hatori-san. When he came, Hatori-san said you were all right, you just had the flu and that you should feel a little better in the morning. He told me to give you this medicine," she added, handing him a packet of small white pills. "You are supposed to take one twice a day with breakfast and dinner." she finished with a smile.

Yuki stared at the pills, thinking. 'She hadn't...had she?'

"Honda-san, you didn't wait up all night with me? Did you?"

"Eh? Of course I did! You looked really pale. I didn't want you to wake up and not understand what was going on." She said in a rush, clasping her hands together.

Yuki sighed. She was so kind, so self-sacrificing. She had put him in front of herself again, and he hadn't been able to stop her. Now she would be tired for school 'Why can't she realize I'm not worth it?' he thought. 'I don't matter. I'm not the important one; she is.'

"Thank you so much, Honda-san, but you really didn't have to. I would have been ok."

Doubt and disbelief flashed across her face. Doubt? Disbelief? He'd never seen that sort of expression on her face before. 'She doesn't believe me?' Yuki thought. 'Why? I've never lied to her outright, and I'm pretty sure she's never doubted me before...'

"Yuki-kun, I wanted to make sure you were O.K.!" She replied brightly, interrupting his thoughts. "It wasn't a big deal, and I'm not even ti-i-i-i-ered!" she said, stifling a yawn.

Yuki smiled. She was always so cheerful, always so bright. He didn't think he would ever understand how she did it. 'She's so strong...and I'm so weak.'

"Well, maybe you should miss school today Honda-san." he suggested, "You look pretty tired, and you deserve a rest. I can take notes for you, if you'd like."

"Oh no, thank you but I'd better go to school. Mom wants me to do well! I'll go down and get breakfast started so you can get ready, that is, if you're feeling well enough to go. You shouldn't over extend yourself Yuki-kun!"

"No, I'm alright Honda-san." He said, with a genuine smile this time. She always did that, make him feel happy, refreshed, and _new_. Tohru smiled as she got up and walked towards the door. "I'll be right down. And Honda-san," Tohru turned to face him. "Thank you again."

"It was nothing, Yuki-kun! I'm just glad you're alright." Yuki moved to close the door as she ambled down the stairs. How was it that she could smooth out his worries just by being there? He smiled to himself, as he got dressed. He now felt thoroughly rejuvenated, like nothing could ruin his day. Not even that idiotic cat.

More to come, but it might be a while.


	2. Whispers in the Night

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! They were so so so so so incredibly kind! (They also really motivated me to keep writing - it was an effort to make this chapter as long as it is.) anyway, part of the reason this took a littl elong was that I just got Fruist Baskets Five! (WOO HOO!!!) so obviously I had to read it right away. i wasn't expecting it to come out for antoher two weeks or so, but when I went to the book store WAMO!!! there it was on the shelf. Anyway, let me know what you think of this. If i screwed up anything just tell me. I'm a-feared that Tohru is a little OOC so any feedback would be really really appriciated!

Thanks to : Dark-Hooded Eriol the Mag , Atlanta Enchanted , DrStrangelove007 , Nightfall2525 , monsnite , Daine-Wildemage , gummy ducks , AozoroMika , Bass Star Cardians Webmis

I Love you guys!

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Chapter 2 - Whispers in the Night

Tohru sighed as she slid herself into her seat in class. She was completely exhausted. Yuki hadn't slept well through his fever. She had stayed by his side holding his hand as he passed through numerous fits and nightmares. Only when he hadn't stirred for over an hour had she drifted off next to his bed.

Tohru bit her lip, feeling awful. She had fallen asleep while watching over Yuki. How could she let herself do that? He had been sick – with a high fever - and if he had woken up confused and disoriented he could have hurt himself in a panic! How could she have been so selfish and indulged in sleep? She would have to apologize later.

Yuki would say she shouldn't have even stayed by his side past 10:00. He would say he was ok – but she knew better.

Yuki had ... spoken ... in his nightmares. At first he would only toss and turn, moaning a little. After a few hours, however, he began to mumble words in his fits. With each fit they had become clearer and clearer. She had managed to string together a meaning to them. She closed her eyes, remembering the pain in his voice.

_"NO! NO! Akito – please! NO! HELP! Not the dark room! Akito please, don't put me back in there! NO AKITO! AKITO! AKITO, LET ME OUT!"_

She shivered slightly in her school uniform. His voice had been laced with terror, cold barren and helpless. She had never heard him sound like that before. It had unnerved her and chilled her heart.

Tohru couldn't imagine what Akito had done to cause Yuki so much pain. With her brief encounter with him, he had scarred her, yes, but Yuki had been so ... broken. She hadn't even imagined that one person could cause such chaos in another, because that had been Yuki's state: complete chaos and confusion.

She was sure that Akito was the cause of Yuki's trauma. "Akito" had been the first word Yuki had mumbled that she was able to understand, and he had repeated it the most often. But what exactly had Akito done? Yuki had mentioned a room ... a dark room, but what that was she could only begin to guess.

Tohru sighed again, trying to ignore the ache inside of her. She wanted to help Yuki so badly, to heal the mental wounds Akito had lashed into his mind, yet she didn't want to pry into the personal life of the Sohmas. 'What should I do, mom? I care about Yuki, so, so much but I don't want to be rude. How can I help him when I don't even know what's wrong? I feel empty when I see him suffer and can't do anything about it, like I have nothing left. Mom, what should I do?'

Suddenly Hanajima appeared at Tohru's shoulder. "Tohru-kun, your aura is confused and helpless. Is there anything wrong?"

"Nope! I'm fine!" she said, fixing her face with a smile. How could she explain her predicament to her friends? It was Yuki who was confused and helpless, not her.

Hanajima gave her a very unconvinced look, but didn't push the subject further. Uo wondered over in their direction.

"What's gong on, you guys?" she asked. "You both look cheerful." She added sarcastically, noting Tohru's watery eyes and Hanajima's normal stern expression. "Did someone die, or something? Tell me it was Orangey – then I wont have to beat him at cards anymore."

"Everything's fine, Uo-chan! I'm just a little sleepy."

Tohru felt her attention wan as Hanajima and Uo began to talk about other things. Her gaze shifted to Yuki who was bent over, reading some papers on his desk. She didn't know why but Yuki had touched her. From the time she had first seen him smile in his garden, his first real smile, she had – fallen in love with him. Yuki made her feel new and alive. He made her feel safe. His presence alone made her feel as if all her doubts, all her worries didn't exist. He believed in her as a person and allowed her to believe in herself. She had never admitted it to anyone else, and she rarely admitted it to herself, but she hoped that by helping Yuki, she could give to him what he gave to her.

She sat up and shook herself mentally. 'But of course, Yuki would never be interested in me.' She thought. 'He is after all, the prince of our school. I'm just glad I am able to be friends with him.'

Tohru smiled to herself as the teacher walked in the room and everyone sat down. 'I'm so glad I get to spend so much time with him.' She thought.

'I _need_ to spend time with him.'

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So what do you think? I'll try to post another chapter soon!

-Orangellama


	3. A Good Moment in a Bad Day

Hello everyone! I'm so terribly terribly sorry that I haven't updated for three weeks! (I feel like such a bad fanfiction author!) I just had a ton of work to do and I couldn't get aroundt o updating. On top of that I was kind of stuck for ideas. No worries though. I updated with a longer-then-usual update. PLUS there shoul dbe more soon because I have an awsome idea.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You have no idea how much it means to me to get reviews. I really, truly apprieciate it. I know it can be a pain to review and I'm so grateful for every one that I get. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! (Sorry I can't list everyone this time but I have a lab due tomorrow! Sorry!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to never take so long to update again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Baskets or any of its characters (sigh).

Chapter Three – A Good Moment in a Bad Day

Yuki sighed as he closed his locker with a sharp "clang!"

It had been another long day at school. Thank goodness he didn't have a student council meeting today. 'I'll just go home, take a bath, eat Honda-san's dinner...'

Honda-san

"Tohru." He whispered.

Yuki sighed again. He didn't know why he kept calling her Honda-san. She was calling him Yuki-kin, but for some reason her first name seemed untouchable. He felt foolish, not being unable to say it, but to him it seemed like something he was unworthy of, something reserved for the great and the good, the noble. His brows furrowed as he thought of how the damn cat abused her surname. _He_ certainly didn't have the right to say it. And Tohru, being so kind, embraced it.

Yuki bristled, filled with – he hated to admit it – jealousy.

He was jealous that Kyo was too stupid and too ignorant to realize that her name was special. Jealous too that no one stopped him from saying it. Jealous that he, the dirty, pathetic, _sickening_ rat would probably never be able to say it.

He looked up from his thoughts as he heard approaching footsteps, and smiled as he saw Tohru wave at him from down the hall.

"Yuki-kun! How was your day?" she asked, blessing him with a beaming smile.

"It was fine." He replied. "How was yours?"

"It was great! Ready to go? Kyo-kun got a detention for fighting, so he said we should leave without him."

"Alright," was Yuki's simple reply. He smiled inwardly. Time alone with Tohru was a precious commodity. It seems his day was looking up.

Yuki's mind wandered as they made their way through the woods towards Shigure's house. Bright golden leaves were drifting to the ground throughout the forest; crisp and crunchy just like the fall air that filled his lungs.

He allowed a small smile to slip onto his face. He was the luckiest person alive. How anyone like himself could get to spend such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place with such a beautiful person was beyond him.

Yuki listened to Tohru, absorbing her sounds. He heard her short puffs of breath, her footsteps as she crunched the leaves underneath her, the squeaks of the leather rubbing together on her bag, and the ever present soft swish of her skirt.

'She's so _alive_.' He thought. 'So full of movement.' He snuck a side-glance at her.

He was surprised to find her already looking at him, rather apprehensively. 'I haven't been worrying her, have I?' he thought 'With my not talking?'

"Honda-san, is everything alright?" Yuki asked, pausing their walk as he turned to face her, the house barely in view through he trees.

"Yes I'm fine. It's just ..." she bit her lip before blurting, "it seems like something is bothering you!" Her cheeks became tinged with red as she worried if she had intruded. She always worried if she had intruded.

'Doesn't she know she can ask me anything?' Yuki thought.

"Sorry, but if something is wrong you can tell me, I want you to tell me. It's not healthy to keep your troubles cooped up." Tohru finished, explaining herself to him.

Yuki smiled. He couldn't help it. She cared so much. How could you not feel loved? 'That's what I like about her,' he realized. 'She makes me feel loved. She makes me feel worthy of love.'

Yuki could have died of happiness as Tohru smiled back up at him.

He could have died of agony three seconds later as she tripped over a rock.

He launched forward to catch her, somehow managing to keep enough distance between them to prevent his transformation.

By the time he had the chance to think, Tohru was positioned over him, her arms supporting her above his chest.

"Yuki-kun! I am so, so, so sorry! I can't believe I fell! Are you alright?" she cried, simultaneously blushing and propping herself up on her knees.

Yuki sat up. "I'm fine. But how are you? You didn't get hurt at all, did you?" he asked her, nervously.

"Nope! I'm fine!" she replied, smiling once again, "But really, Yuki-kun, I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to cause any trouble. What if you had transformed?"

There she went again, making him smile. If she kept this up he would never be able to stop. Yuki allowed himself to look at her face. He took in her wide eyes, dainty little nose, and soft pink lips. He suddenly had the urge to lean in and kiss her.

'Tell her how you feel!' one part of his brain screamed.

'Don't! She'll reject you, idiot rat!' shouted another.

Yuki, confused, sought Tohru's hand unconsciously, intertwining his fingers in hers.

"Ouch!" Tohru yelped, jerking her hand away. "Sorry Yuki-kun – it's just my finger hurts." She said, examining her left index finger.

Yuki bent down to look at it as well. It didn't look good. The finger was quite swollen and appeared to be turning a pruple-ish color. He felt his stomach drop. "Honda-san," he choked out, "did you get this when you fell?"

"I guess so." She said, eyes still on her finger. "I'll soak it when we get home. It doesn't hurt that much."

Yuki felt his heart stop. He had let her get hurt. He had put himself before her, wanting to avoid transformation. He had let her fall and injure herself. How could he be so selfish? And after all the times when she sacrificed so much for him ... only last night she had gotten only a few hours of sleep so he wouldn't wake up confused and scarred. And he couldn't even put himself through a simple transformation to save her. 'I really am the pathetic selfish rat.' He thought bitterly.

"Honda-san...I'm sorry I let you – "

"Yuki, Honda-kun." Said a solemn voice behind them. Yuki whipped his head around to see Hatori walking up the path towards them.

"Hatori-san!" Tohru called cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Shigure called me." He replied, giving Yuki a pointed look. "He wanted to talk to me about Yuki's illness."

Yuki sighed. Looks like his day wasn't going to get that good after all. "I'm fine, Hatori. It was probably just the flu. But while you're here you can look a Honda-san's finger? I think she broke it."

Yuki paced around his room, his hands clenched into fists, loathing seething from his eyes. How _could_ he have let Honda-san fall? Her finger had been broken, although not badly. As a consequence, however, Hatori had had to bandage it, crippling Tohru's actions. And to top it off, she insisted on cooking anyway. Shigure, Kyo, and himself had told her numerous times that evening that they didn't mind takeout for the week or so that her cast would be on. She had said she couldn't allow it, that they were too kind to her as it is and that she simply would never forgive herself to let so little a thing as a broken finger stop her from cooking. This had, of course, only added to Yuki's guilt.

He felt wretched. This whole thing was his fault. He needed to vent some of his frustration. He decided to go downstairs and get something to drink, to try and calm himself down.

As he headed down the stairs, he paused as he heard his own name coming from the living room.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Hatori asked. "Yuki said he was fine."

"Haa-san, do you not enjoy my fine company? Or must you finish your business and leave so soon?" Shigure wimpered.

"Seriously Shigure, you sounded genuinely worried on the phone, which is incredibly rare for you. What's wrong with Yuki?"

"Only that he was practically screaming in his sleep with the fever last night. I was wondering if you could give him some sort of sedative so he wouldn't wake me up again and spoil my beauty rest."

'I was screaming?' Yuki wondered. 'Honda-san didn't mention anything.'

"Screaming?" mused Hatori. "What about, exactly?"

"Actually, it was a little disturbing." Said Shigure, suddenly serious. "All I could hear properly was Akito's name and 'the room'. That and he kept pleading for help. I wouldn't want Tohru to get flustered if she heard it one night."

Yuki shrank back against the wall. He had ... screamed ... in his sleep ... about that room. Had Tohru heard? Most likely she had. She had been in the same room. That would explain why she hadn't believed him when he had told her he would have been fine without her. It also explained why she found it so necessary to stay with him the whole night. What if ... what if he had mentioned other things, only softer so Shigure hadn't heard? What if he had told her about that time...

He made his way blindly back up to his room. He could vaguely hear Hatori's answer.

"Yes ... I'll drop something off tomorrow. I knew there would probably be long lasting damage."

He closed to door behind him and collapsed into his desk chair, mind racing furiously. He would have to talk to her. Apologize. Explain it in some way. But how? He didn't even know what he had said aside what Shigure had heard from the other side of the house. He cringed. What if Kyo heard? That could be bad.

But back to Tohru. He would have to talk to her tomorrow. Hopefully he could figure out some sort of explanation. Hopefully he could figure out exactly how much he had to explain.

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Let me know what you think of Hatori and Shigure. Are they OOC? Next chapter should have Kyo in it - and soon I shall be addressing the issue of who Kyo ends up with. I have alot of Kagura - kyo requests. Tell me what you think about that. (normally I don't like them together but I might make an acception and pair them inthis fic.) Also, people seem to want more romance (hence the bit where Yuki almost kisses Tohru - it was too soon for them to make out!) so I'm going to try to put more of that in as well.

Review if you can!

-Orangellama :)


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